Boing Boing: User creates virtual ecosystem in Second Life

A good use for a rule-based system?

Link to Boing Boing: User creates virtual ecosystem in Second Life

UNCG ECON 201 Dancing Alien

Metrics for Game Development

Outlets like the Journal for Game Development are probably all over this, but one must wonder, upon seeing a nonprofit venture of this sophistication, the costs:

• Cost to create a character (e.g., the "alien")
• Cost to create a scene (e.g., a room), even without animation
• Ongoing web traffic expense (even for curiosity seekers, as must be stomping all over the site this week)
• Ongoing maintenance and debugging, especially when there's turnover of student labor that might be used to create the game

Link to UNCG ECON 201 Dancing Alien

Playing Games For College Credit

The UNCG Division of Continual Learning today announced it has developed a groundbreaking new video game for college credit that is scheduled to launch this fall. Called ECON 201, the game teaches the principles of microeconomics by following an alien species that must learn how to survive after crash-landing in a post-apocalyptic earth.

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My additional thoughts:
- Will this affect the pricing model for credit coursework nationwide?
- Is there an advantage given to institutions with better developed multi-media (especially 3D) resources and talent?
- What about role playing games?